The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)

During our travel we had the opportunity to visit the European Organization for Nuclear Research, more commonly know as CERN. While CERN has recently become well known for its role in Angels and Demons, starring Tom Hanks, as the place where anti-matter is created, we were quickly ensured during our introduction that nothing so secretive existed in reality and we could take as many pictures as we like.

CERN has developed into a sprawling complex over its sixty year existence. Created in 1952 as the European Council for Nuclear Research, its charter was changed in 1954 to the current title and mission as the European Organization for Nuclear Research. It is the oldest center for research of nuclear and particle physics.

To accomplish their goal of discovering new fundamental particles, CERN has a series of accelerators that create and feed particles to the world's largest collider, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

One of the small accelerators.

Our two guides, both physicists, took quite a bit of time explaining to us that the smaller accelerators, had an important role to play in the over all functioning of CERN's LHC because they feed the slower moving particles to the larger collider where they can be accelerated to 99.9% the speed of light and collided with other particles. The larger the accelerator the more difficult it is create and maintain an environment where strong magnetic fields can be created to steer the particles around the accelerator.

Prior to installing a segment in the LHC, the section must be tested to ensure that it can withstand temperatures just above absolute zero and the vacuum the is created inside of the vessel. Without these two elements, the wiring could not conduct a current sufficient to create the necessary magnetic field.

The 2008 explosion in the LHC damaged the tube on the right, causing the paint to freeze off and the necessity of retesting the section.

A cross-section of a LHC segment. The dull and shiny portions are solid steel and the whole section weighs 30 tons.

Unfortunately, during our stay the LHC collider was shut down because of a wiring problem. Some of the smaller accelerators require 40 physicists minimum to operate properly.

Physicists' inside joke.

CERN is not just responsible for nuclear research. The drive to share information with their sister lab, Fermilab, in Illinois, as well as with physicists around the world led to one man to combine the different networking elements together and create the internet in the late 1980's. The sharing of information is and was of vital importance to the physicists at CERN and our hosts emphasized that the basic research they were conducting had spill-over effects into everyday life.

(Pictures are thanks to Jennifer Byram.)